


Varsity

by XxPurpleStars3xx



Category: Mighty Ducks (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:57:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8291681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxPurpleStars3xx/pseuds/XxPurpleStars3xx
Summary: The weeks that Adam was on Varsity were some of the worst of his life. Being away from his friends, this is how he felt throughout being on Varsity. From the time he found out he was on Varsity to the end.





	

When Adam Banks found out he made Varsity, he immediately went to Coach Orion.

“Coach, there must be a mistake!” he argued with Orion in his office. “I-I can’t be on Varsity. I’ve played with these guys for the past four years. Sometimes I think that if I can’t play with them, I’d rather not play at all.”

He was having déjà vu, then.

Back when he was ten and Coach Bombay saw that he was on the wrong team, his father and stepped in and said Adam would rather not play than be Duck. His father had been wrong of course, but now he couldn’t imagine it any other way. He couldn’t imagine playing for any other team.

And that’s why he was standing there.

“If you’re good enough to play Varsity, you’ll play it,” Orion said. “You’ve probably known all along you’re better than your friends. Besides, you’re here on scholarship. You don’t play Varsity, you don’t play. I’m not having you play with people that are below your level. You play Varsity or you don’t go to school here. Your choice.”

Banks took a deep breath.

“Who should I report to after school tomorrow?” he asked, feeling like a traitor for doing this.

But hockey was all he had ever wanted to do. It was what he lived and breathed. That’s what made him and Charlie best friends. They’d rather be playing hockey or doing something like it than anything.

“I’ll tell Coach Wilson that he’ll see you tomorrow night on the ice,” Ted said. Banks nodded and turned away. “Oh, and Banks? I know they’re you’re best friends, but stay away from them. Just until the JV/Varsity game in a few weeks.”

Adam nodded again and continued walking out the door to his locker where he put his skates on and rode home.

When he got home and threw his skates over to where the shoes were, threw down his backpack and screamed.

“What is with the screaming?” his mom, Annabeth, asked. “Did today not turn out okay?”

“I made Varsity,” Adam said with venom in his voice.

“Congratulations!” Annabeth took one look at her son’s face and backed out. “No congratulations?”

“I’m not going to be with my friends, Mom! They’ll think I was a traitor. But I’m there on scholarship, and I live and breathe hockey. I have to stay away from them until the JV/Varsity game soon.”

His phone beeped, and he looked at the text.

To: Adam  
From: Charlie

You going to Varsity?

To: Charlie  
From: Adam

Have to! Have to play to keep my scholarship and Orion won’t let me play with you guys!

To: Adam  
From: Charlie

Traitor.

And that was all that was said. He hated that he couldn’t be with his friends. The team that he’d never leave in a million years. If he could go back in time and talk to his younger self about the doubts he had about playing for District 5, he would say there was no worry. They’d eventually trust him. Hell, they’d become some of his best friends in time. They’d go on to win Internationally. They’d be stars.

 

The next day, he walked into the Varsity lockers, looking at the upperclassmen who, only a day ago, had wanted to hurl him into a trash can or do something even more violent to him along with his friends. Well, as of right now, former friends.

“Hey, who invited the Duck?” Cole asked.

“Believe me, if I could I wouldn’t be here, but Orion put me on the team,” Adam said.

“What’s your name?” Riley asked.

“Adam Banks.”

“Ah, Banksy.”

“Just Banks,” Adam corrected.

Coach Wilson came in and looked at Adam.

“Oh,” he exclaimed, “you must be Adam Banks. The freshman that Ted sent over. Nice to meet you.”

Banks reluctantly shook his hand and they got out on the ice.

He couldn’t move after practice ninety minutes later. Man, if he thought Bombay was tough, Orion was tougher, and then Smith almost killed him during practice.

 

He tried to ignore the Varsity’s goings-on. Sure, he had to sit with them and such, but he didn’t have to like their antics. He would much rather play pranks on the Varsity with his friends than the other way around.

So it was hilarious when Charlie gave him the horse turd brownies and then ran. He had to run because it was his team, but he didn’t like it.

 

He sat down at the first game with his new team, excited to see his old friends play. He had no idea what had happened in the locker room when they guys told him to keep out.

Well, if he couldn’t be a JV Warrior, at least he could watch his best friends play. He smiled and clapped as he watched his friends come out in those Warrior uniforms—no doubt that any of them would drop those if they were given the chance to wear their Duck jerseys again.

He gave a standing ovation as the Du—Warriors—scored in the first ten seconds, thanks to Charlie. He was extremely proud of his best friends. He was pulled straight back down again.

Jerks, he thought. Won’t let me root for my old team. Orion must be doing something good if that happened so quickly. But then again, Charlie was one of the best on the team.

When Russ did the Knuckle Puck, he clapped as loud as the team would probably allow and smiled, then remembering that he couldn’t do that, immediately stopped.

Damn Orion, he thought as Luis scored a goal, but ran into the boards. But he sat smiling, a ray of sunshine against the brooding looks of the seniors, as Dwayne hopped the puck up and down on his stick, happy to at least see him do this trick, if not from the ice, from the stands.

He was about to say something to the guy next to him about his friendship with him and how talented he was, when he stopped. These guys hated him and the team already. He didn’t need them hating him more.

He sat watching and clapping as, goal after goal, his friends looked like they were having fun. He just couldn’t stand the thought of him on the outside again. He’d hated the way that Bombay had torn him away from the Hawks and made him an outsider on the Ducks. Now, he hated the way Orion had torn him away from the Ducks and put him on Varsity.

“Conway’s a puck hog, isn’t he?” Cole asked Riley from behind Adam.

“Hey!” Adam defended. “He’s not a puck hog. He’s a great player. At least he scores.”

That was a low blow, but he didn’t care. He hated this team.

“Come on, guys,” he whispered as the other team scored.

And scored.

And scored.

What the Hell, Julie? He thought. What’s going on with you guys?

And when Charlie got put in the box, all of his teammates looked ashamed, like they shouldn’t have someone like that at their school.

“He gets a little hot tempered, guys,” Adam justified.

“Sure, Banksy,” Riley said. And even after goal after goal was scored, Riley continued to say, “Where’s your Ducks now?”

“Under that uniform.” He looked towards Charlie as he fell down on the ice. “Charlie!”

And when the buzzer sounded and it was deemed a tie, the Varsity team and cheerleaders looked at Adam like he was part of the team.

When, in reality, he was.

“Man, you should’ve seen what we did to their clothes, man,” Cole said.

“What’d you do?” Adam demanded.

“Chill, Banksy. We just put them in the shower for a wash…the whole game.”

Adam turned away and rolled his eyes, knowing that his friends would retaliate somehow. And when they did, he hoped he wouldn’t be part of the prank.

 

Well, it was worth a shot in hoping. But he guessed since he was one of them, he should’ve guessed that his jacket and stuff would be frozen over like everybody else’s when they came back from practice that night.

He looked towards the wall where Cole was pointing and didn’t know whether to cheer, laugh, or act angry.

 

“Hey, should have been the dinner on Friday?” Riley asked the Varsity table the next day.

“Yeah,” everybody agreed.

“What’s up?” Adam asked.

“The JV and Varsity teams have a dinner once a year. A tradition. Varsity takes JV out for dinner at this really nice steak and seafood place,” Riley said.

“Okay.”

“Great. Let’s go tell them.”

So Adam, along with his snobs of teammates, headed over to his friends’ table.

“Hey, congratulations,” Riley said.

“Yeah, right, we tied,” Charlie said.

“A point’s a point. We’re all Warriors now.” No matter how much we all want to be Ducks, Adam added. “You guys proved your guts. You all set for dinner, Friday?”

Adam smiled, knowing that he was going to see his friends again in a civil environment. Maybe one that they could actually speak in!

“Dinner?” Russ asked a little hesitantly.

Don’t worry, Russ, I don’t trust any of these guys, either, Adam thought.

“Well, it’s an Eden Hall tradition,” Riley explained. Wait…I don’t trust these guys! Well, maybe it won’t be too bad. They said it was cool and nice. “Varsity gotta treat the freshmen to dinner. So round up your posse and meet us at six. At the Minnesota Club, downtown. Anybody need a ride, we can take ya. You guys do like steak and seafood, right?”

He didn’t trust him. He kept his eyes on Riley the entire time.

But he smiled as Cole continued to talk as Riley walked away and Charlie agreed to meet them all their the next night.

“It’s cool,” he said, trying to sound as if he believed it was. IT sounded cool, but there was no doubt the team was up to something.

As he walked away he heard Guy say, “Banksy says it’s cool.”

What’s with calling me Banksy now? He thought.

But he didn’t care at that moment. His friends weren’t talking smack or anything about him. He was still in.

 

That Friday night, the Varsity and Ducks sat in the back room eating seafood and steak.

“It’s nice to be back with you guys. If only for tonight,” Adam told the Ducks, who just smiled.

“If only for tonight,” Guy repeated.

“Hey,” one of the other guys said, “Banksy, we need to talk.”

“What’s with the ‘Banksy’?” Adam asked, rolling his eyes to the amusement of his old teammates. “Shut up.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah?” Adam asked, walking outside with him. “What do you need?”

“See, the tradition isn’t we treat them to dinner. It’s more like…they treat us,” the hockey player said.

“What do you mean?”

“We do a dine-n-dash on ‘em.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?!”

“You think we’d let you know beforehand? You’d scurry off to your little friends and tell them!” Cole said, coming out into the hall.

Good point. I probably would, Adam thought.

“I hate this team more now,” Adam sighed.

“Well, we’re not too fond of you, either, Duck,” Cole said as they went back inside.

They continued to sit and eat and talk until Riley decided it was time to make a speech around seven-thirty.

“On behalf of the Eden Hall Warrior Varsity State Champion hockey team,” he started, “I’d like to welcome the future state champs. The Eden Hall freshmen. Here, here.”

“Here, here,” everybody repeated.

“We’re just glad you loaned us Banksy so we’d have a chance to beat you guys in the annual Freshmen/Varsity showdown.”

Cole clapped him on the back and Adam was pissed. Not only because of the dine-n-dash, but because he was on the other side. He wanted to be with his old team more than anything. He was old not fond of the way Riley said that he would help them beat the Ducks. He just hated it.

“Now,” Riley continued, “nobody move. We’ve got one last surprise.”

Here we go, Adam thought, already sick at the idea that, after tonight, his friends would hate him. His friends would despise him and probably not look at him the same afterwards. Like Charlie, they would always think of him as a traitor. But he knew he had to do it, or they would do worse things to him than they did to JV.

“Fellas?” The guys got up, but he stayed down. Riley noticed. “Banksy.”

He reluctantly threw his napkin down and got up, knowing he had no choice.

Goodbye, friends, he thought as he left them.

He left before they brought out the cake. He couldn’t bear to see the Varsity’s faces as they played a trick on his best friends.

“Where you going, Banksy?” Riley asked.

“Home. You know, I knew you guys were terrible, but I didn’t think you guys were this terrible. How are they supposed to get that sort of money?” Adam shouted. “The only reason I’m on this freakin’ team is because I’m on scholarship and Orion thought I was good enough to play for Varsity. And when I said I’d rather play with the Ducks, he said I play for Varsity or I lose my scholarship. God, they’re gonna hate me as much as they did when we were ten!”

“Banksy—“ Riley started.

“No. Just no.”

Adam left and raced home on his skates, thankful he brought them, no matter if he was wearing a suit. He banged his bedroom door upstairs.

“Something wrong?” his mother asked. “How’d the dinner go?”

He sat down on his bed and started crying.

“It was a dine-n-dash, and I couldn’t stay with them. Mom, they’re going to hate me. After so many years of them trusting me and being friends with them, that’s gone in a second. They’re never going to forgive me. Especially not Charlie,” Adam said. “I just wish I wasn’t good enough sometimes. Like, I wasn’t good enough for Varsity. I’d be on the other side with my friends and not some asshole team that thinks the only way to have fun is to play pranks on the JV team.”

“Everything will be alright.” His mother had started patting his back. “Everything’s going to be alright. Maybe if you rest, it’ll be better.”

It was only eight, but Adam couldn’t agree more, so he changed into shorts and a tank and got under his covers. He looked towards his bedside table to see the picture of the Ducks, after he had gotten out of the hospital, holding the Championship trophy. He slammed the photo down, something his mother didn’t fail to hear, and turned over and went to sleep.

Only to be awake at midnight by Riley’s call.

“It’s midnight, what do you want?” he asked into the phone.

“Your stupid team pulled a prank on us. It’s them against us at dawn. Be there.”

“What prank?”

Adam tried not to laugh as Riley explained something about how they put fire ants into their beds.

Good ole Ducks.

 

Adam woke up just before dawn, picked up his backpack, left a note for his parents saying there was an early practice and headed off to the locker room at the school.

He suited up reluctantly, watching the Ducks give him the stink eye. Varsity wasn’t much better. He skated around, getting warmed up on the ice. He hated that he had to do this. He hated playing against the Ducks in their Duck jerseys.

Adam skated around Charlie as they were headed to the center.

“They didn’t tell me until it was too late,” Adam said to Charlie, looking at the 96 and the “C” on the jersey. How he longed to be his 99 jersey, again. “Charlie, believe me.”

“Yeah right, preppy,” Charlie responded.

Does he honestly think I wouldn’t tell him? He was my best friend before all this! He thought as he took his spot.

The game went on and on as the Varsity kept scoring around the Ducks. He hated how he had to beat down his team member to get a goal.

“Flying V!” Charlie shouted, and that was the moment Adam realized that he’d kill to be on his team again. That he’d leave the school if it meant he could play on the Ducks again.

And as he and Charlie went neck and neck, trying to get the puck, and there was a “Get ‘em, Banks!” he couldn’t have felt worse.

“Dammit, Banks!” Charlie yelled, and took them both down in a headlock.

“Get off me, Charlie,” Adam said, getting up.

“How do you like it Banks?”

“Yeah, nice take down, you’d be in the box!”

They kept pushing each other. Adam couldn’t remember the last time they had this big a fight. Actually, come to think of it, he didn’t ever remember having a fight with Charlie.

Charlie, the only kid that had welcomed him the first day to the Ducks. The kid who gave up his roster spot when his arm felt better. The kid who had been one of his favorites to beat when he was still on the Hawks all those years ago.

“Oh, go cry to your rich parents!” Charlie shouted.

Oh, we’re back to Cake-Eater, now, aren’t we? Adam thought as he took down Charlie and started beating him.

“Alright, Charlie, let’s go!” he shouted.

And then the lights came on as he had his arms around Charlie. He looked back at him as he skated away from Charlie and the rest of his team. He didn’t feel bad, really, about the win. He felt bad about how he was fighting with his best friend. That he was fighting with his team.

Forgot something, he thought and headed back to the rink where Orion was yelling at them.

“You’re breaking up the best thing any of us ever had,” he heard Charlie say as he picked up his glove. (A/N he didn’t really drop anything. I just think this is an amazing line and that he deserved to hear it.)

Too late, he thought as he left the rink again. He tore me away. The Varsity tore my friendships away. I hate this school.

“Nice fight,” Riley said, clapping him on the back as they both undressed and headed home.

 

He sat in class on Monday in the front row, next to the Ducks. None of them talked to him, which was the worst thing ever.

“Guys, I had nothing to do with that,” Adam said during lunch, coming up to the table where Fulton and Charlie were missing. “Please believe me. You know I’d tell you if I had known beforehand. Okay, I understand that fight with Charlie, but—“

“Stop right there, Banksy,” Russ said as tears filled my eyes.

“Please.”

The group looked towards each other.

“Look, Adam, it’s nothing personal, but…you’re just too different now,” Lester said.

“I’m not different! I tried to apologize to Charlie, he didn’t believe me. I’ve played against most of you. I’ve played with most of you for four years!” Adam shouted.

“Hey,” Riley said, coming over. “Banksy, stop talking with these…Ducks.”

“Don’t call me that,” Adam said, poking Riley chest. “Don’t call me that again. And I’m one of these Ducks. I have been for four years. It’s the best decision I ever made, telling my dad that I’d rather play hockey with a team that sucked at first and then got better than quit altogether. I’ve come to trust and love these guys. You can take me out of the Duck jersey and put me in a Warriors uniform, but you will never take the Duck out of me. No matter if they never forgive me, I’ll always be one of them. Do you know how much it hurt when Orion told me I couldn’t play with them? No, you don’t, because you’ve never been on a team like this.”

Riley looked taken aback. No one had ever talked to him like that.

“Adam…” Connie trailed off.

Adam turned back to his friends (ex-friends?) in exasperation. He held up his right hand, stopping any further words from the table or the Warrior Captain.

“You don’t want to forgive me, fine,” he said and walked away.

“Will the JV team and Adam Banks please report to the dean’s office?” an overhead voice said.

“What’d you guys do?” Riley asked.

“I did nothing,” Greg said.

“Well, me either,” Connie said as the Ducks made their way to the dean’s office. 

When they walked in, the dean looked very solemn.

“There’s been some troubling news,” the dean said.

“What?” Guy asked.

“Your mentor, Hans, died earlier today.”

Immediately, Connie and Julie burst into tears, and the guys just stood in shock. Connie was immediately in Guy’s arms, and Connie found Russ’s, the nearest person to her.

The JV team immediately went into a huddle. Adam stood outside, until Dwayne pulled him in.

“Ducks fly together, right?” Luis asked as the group hugged each other.

“Ducks fly together,” they all repeated.

“Adam?” Connie asked, going over to Banks. “Adam?”

“Yeah?” he answered.

“I forgive you.” She hugged him, tears soaking his shirt. “I know it’s not your fault.”

His friends looked towards him and Julie left Ken’s arms to hug Adam.

“We’re all sorry,” Lester said.

Adam nodded.

“The funeral will be held Saturday,” the dean said. “Now, go back to class.”

The team looked at each other.

“I’m going to get on the JV team. I don’t care what it takes,” Adam said, as he left the office. “I’m going to Orion’s office right after school, before I have practice.”

They all hugged him and Julie hugged him one more time before they went their separate ways to class.

 

Adam knocked on Coach Orion’s door and entered.

“Coach, I want to be put on the JV team,” he requested. “Please. I can’t deal with Varsity. All of my friends are on JV.”

Ted Orion looked up from his paperwork.

“Banks, we’ve been over—“

“Yeah,” Adam interrupted, “I know we’ve been over this. I don’t play Varsity, I don’t play hockey, I lose my scholarship. But I’ve played with the Ducks since I was ten. They’re my family. Ducks fly together.” Orion rolled his eyes at the sentence. “Coach, please.

“Can you wait until after the JV/Varsity game?”

“Honestly, sir, I’d rather play with my team against Varsity.”

Orion sighed and nodded.

“I’ll see what I can do. Now, go get to practice.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Adam couldn’t stop smiling all throughout practice.

 

It was at the funeral where everybody saw Charlie, Fulton and Bombay again.

“How’s Varsity?” Bombay asked Adam.

“Hopefully I’ll move back to JV with the Ducks,” Adam responded.

“You don’t like Varsity?”

“The guys are jerks, Orion split me up with my friends, and Charlie hates me.”

“Charlie will get over it. He always does. He’ll forgive you in time.”

“I hope you’re right.”

 

It was 11:30 when Adam got the call about a pickup game of street hockey from Ken.

“Be right over,” he said and finished his lunch, grabbing his skates and heading to the basketball courts across the school.

They were playing for about half an hour until they noticed Coach Bombay and Charlie standing outside the chain link fence.

It surprised Charlie that Adam was playing with them.

“We forgave him,” Russell said without missing a beat. “It wasn’t his fault.”

“Can you try?” Adam asked, coming up to Charlie.

“Forgiven,” Charlie said and hugged his best friend. “Missed you, buddy.”

“Missed you too.”

“Let’s play some hockey!”

They played hockey for a while, then threw Bombay and Charlie into the trash cans.

Yeah, he thought, it was a good day.

 

When Adam heard that his scholarship might be revoked the next day, the day of the board meeting, from Charlie as he was sitting at the Ducks table, he was very upset. This was probably the best hockey and education programs that he had ever know, and they were going to take it away from him.

“Don’t worry,” Charlie said, “we’re going to fight it tonight.”

“Banks!” Orion said, coming up to the Ducks table. “I’ve discussed it with Wilson, and we’ve agreed that when we win, you will be put back on JV because of the situation that is occurring tonight.”

“Yes!” Everybody cheered.

“Thank you, Coach. Thank you very much,” Adam responded.

“Yeah, don’t show off, though,” Orion said, leaving the table.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

Adam told his parents where he was going that night. That he was going to a school board meeting with the rest of the Ducks because they were trying to revoke their scholarships.

“Good luck,” she said and kissed her son goodbye.

The Ducks stood at the side of one room, while the Varsity stood at the other. Nobody on the Varsity was extremely happy that one of their best had decided to leave to go back to JV and the Ducks.

“Do I have a motion for reconsideration?” Buckley prompted. There was silence all around. “I’m sorry, Coach, but unless there is a motion from a board member and a second, the decision must stand.”

The Varsity looked absolutely smug about that decision.

“You leave us no choice but to bring in our attorney,” Orion said.

Here we go, Adam thought as his old coach came through the doors. Good old Bombay.  
“Dean Buckley, members of the board, as council for Coach Orion, and the freshmen hockey team, I’m here to set forth your legal options so you may make the best possible decision for all parties concerned,” Bombay said.

Adam watched as his old coach defended the team. How Bombay would win no matter what.

Adam smiled.

And when the motion passed that the scholarships were reinstated, there was nothing but cheers and happiness.

Thank you, Bombay, he thought as he and the Ducks left the courtroom, only to be stopped by the Varsity.

“Congratulations in destroying our school,” Riley said.

“Hey look, it’s our school too,” Ken defended.

“It’s everyone’s school you stupid jock,” Linda, a girl Charlie said he had a crush on, said.

“No, it’ll never be your school. Don’t you get it? You’re our own little affirmative action brought in for color to entertain us but you could even do that,” Riley said.

My gosh, how I hate these guys! Adam thought.

“You’re fancy lawyer kept you in on a technicality. But you’ll never belong.”

“You’ll never be anything more than a bunch of rejects here on a free ride,” Cole continued.

“Free ride? Look at you, rich boy,” Russ said. “Mummy and Daddy gave you everything, huh?”

“Hey, JV/Varsity game’s on Friday. Then we’ll show the whole school what a joke you really are. Then maybe you’ll leave on your own,” Riley said, going to straighten up Charlie’s tie. Charlie swatted it away.

Don’t mess with Charlie, Adam thought. You never mess with Charlie.

“It would be the…only honorable thing to do.”

“You know we’re gonna hurt you,” Cole said.

“Ssh, listen, you guys had an unfair advantage last time. You had one of us,” Charlie said. “Banksy.”

Adam gave them a smug smile.

You’re going down, assholes, he thought. Wait…how many times do I have to say I don’t like being called that? Ah, it’s fine when Ducks do it.

“Oh, well keep him,” Riley said. “He never had the heart of the Warrior, anyway.”

How many times did I tell you I was a Duck?

“Hey, Biff, after we beat you, the Warriors die, and the Ducks fly,” Russ said.

“Yeah, anything you say, loser,” Riley said, walking away.

“Good move, Russ, make ‘em even madder,” Averman said. “Charlie, we gotta do something man.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Charlie said. We all looked at our captain as he walked away. “We gotta get to work.”

 

The days and practices between that day and the JV/Varsity game were brutal and long. But, Adam and his team knew they had to win.

Well, they did have me last time. As Charlie said, they had an unfair advantage, Adam thought.

Frankly, he was just grateful that Orion let him back on the JV team. He was happy to be with his friends again, no matter what.

At least they trusted me and liked me again.

And then, a miraculous thing happened the day before the game: Orion gave them their Duck jerseys.

Adam looked at the Duck insignia at the front and had never been gladder to see it. He saw the “Banks” at the back and almost had tears in his eyes. And as he looked at the 99 on the side…he knew that nothing would probably make him this happy for the rest of the school year. You know, except beating the Varsity.

And as the team spun in a circle, beating their sticks and doing the “Quack”, he felt like he was home.

The next night was the game, and Adam couldn’t have been more nervous. He had played with these guys for four years, well, most of them. But he hadn’t skated with them the past few weeks. The only times he did was the practices for the past few days. Though it was easy to get back into the habit of his old team, he was still nervous.

“Nervous, Banksy?” Charlie asked on the bus that Friday afternoon.

“Yeah,” Adam answered.

“You’ll be fine.”

“But I haven’t played with you guys in weeks.”

“You just did for the past few days. You’re going to be great. It’s great to have you back.”

Charlie clapped his best friend on the back, happy that he and Adam weren’t still fighting.

“It’s good to be back, dude.”

 

As the team stood just outside the ice, Charlie said, “This is for Hans.”

Everyone nodded and got out on the ice, making a circle and touching the ice. It was what Charlie had found out was a Norwegian symbol of respect. They felt like they had to do it.

“On three, quack,” Ted Orion said.

Adam had probably never smiled bigger in that moment.

As they all got onto the ice, Adam took the face-off. He leaned down across from his ex-teammate.

“You’re going to wish like Hell you stuck with us,” he said.

Adam wanted to laugh.

He’s not serious, right? He thought.

“Save the trash talk,” he responded, but he really wanted to say something not-so-nice.

He knew all of their old tricks. Knew how rough they could play. That didn’t necessarily mean that was surprised by the way the other Captain knocked him down almost immediately.

As the game went on and on, he and his teammates kept getting hit. Flying over and over people, he knew he would have bruises in the morning after that.

“Someone’s going to get hurt,” Adam said to Lester just before Guy got slammed into the boards.

In the locker room, the Coach was giving a pep talk, but Adam stood, beaten down and tired.

“It’s going to take a miracle for us to hold on,” Averman said.

And the miracle came in the form of Dean Portman.

Oh thank the Lord the Bash Brothers are back! Adam thought.

“Yes!” Adam said, hugging his teammate.

They went back out, and again, playing time was rough. Everyone on the bench watched as Cole flew over and hit the glass as Portman knocked him over.

Luis hit the boards just as he was about to score.

How the Hell as he not learned to stop yet?

And the whole crowd went wild when Portman started stripping.

“Well, we know he’s back now,” Adam whispered to Connie next to him..

“Portman is definitely back,” she agreed. She turned to Adam. “It’s good to have you back with us, dude. We really missed you.”

He bumped Connie’s shoulder with his.

“You don’t know how good it is to hear that,” he said. “Couldn’t stand playing for that team.”

Connie smiled and they went back to watching Portman strip.

And as Greg made the final shot and they won, Adam hugged his friends.

The first time I play with them in weeks and I won, he thought.

“Thanks, Coach,” he said, skating over to Orion as the Eden Hall Warriors became the Ducks.

“Some things just work out,” Orion said. “Go celebrate.”

So he continued hugging and celebrating his teammates. Hugging the Bash Brothers and Charlie especially.

“Ducks fly together!” the team shouted together.

“Ducks fly together,” Charlie said to his best friend, hugging him hard.

“Ducks fly together,” Adam repeated and continued celebrating.


End file.
